Companies are unlikely to complete full migrations to the new Windows operating system until 2008, despite it going on sale next year, according to analyst Gartner.

Companies are unlikely to complete full migrations to the new Windows operating system until 2008, despite it going on sale next year, according to analyst Gartner.

Windows Vista is scheduled to appear towards the end of 2006, but in its report “Ten Reasons You Should and Shouldn’t Care about Microsoft’s Windows Vista Client,” Gartner highlighted issues that would delay full roll-outs of the OS.

Gartner is not advising that users should hold off from deploying Vista, but says they should build in a 12 to 18-month roll-out period in their deployments to overcome potential obstacles.

Gartner said those companies still using the ageing Windows 2000 operating system would have some of the most difficult issues to overcome, as some third-party application providers are ending support for the operating system.

Those users will be under more pressure to adopt Windows Vista more speedily, while Windows XP users will have more time to wait for initial bugs to be ironed out, as XP will still enjoy both Microsoft and third-party support for some years.

The roll-out period is also expected to be extended as a result of Microsoft launching a new Office collaboration suite at around the same time as Windows Vista.

New Office 12 programs will have to be tested alongside Vista. In addition, Microsoft is also launching its new Internet Explorer 7 browser next year, so users will be expected to test the browser’s new security features on their systems.

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